• 🔍🦘🛎@lemmy.world
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    1 day ago

    Amount of rainfall isn’t that relevant here. The largest factor is how well your town maintains their water distribution system. It’s very expensive and requires proactive maintenance and repairs. Often, there are pipes in the ground with fractures that allow untreated groundwater to infiltrate, introducing bacteria to the system.

    Thinking “that mountain stream looks pristine” is a trap that a lot of people fall into. Natural springs, almost without fail, contain E. coli. I mean obviously you’re not going to drink straight out of the river either. You drink groundwater from an aquifer that isn’t influenced directly by surface runoff, or you have a surface intake that’s treated before you can drink it.